If you have personal histories you would like to contribute to this page, I would like to hear from you. The only requirement is that the subject must have a connection to Echols County, Georgia.
If you know of other pioneers, or have found errors on this page, I would also like to hear from you.

John T. ALLEN was born 25 Oct 1833 in GA, died 21 June 1911 in Berrien (now Cook) Co., GA. He is buried at Lakeview Baptist Church Cemetery. On 6 Aug 1856, probably in GA, he married Emily Susan ZEIGLER, the daughter of Joseph Conrad Holman ZEIGLER and Emily HOFFMAN. John and Emily had 11 children:

Allen is listed in the book "1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia" Abstracted and Compiled by Nancy J. Cornell in Echols county in the 6th Senatorial District - 1211th Militia District as "CARTER, Allen W., 16 yrs. 5 months, farmer, b. GA". Soon after in 1865, the seventeen-year-old Allen joined his older brother Martin T. Carter, Sr. and enlisted in the CSA at Charleston S.C. In the "Widows Pension" filed by wife Sarah, Allen, as well as Martin, served with Co. K, 32nd Ga. Infantry. He enlisted at Columbia SC in 1865. The 32nd was fighting in the Campaign of the Carolinas, January 14, 1865 through April 26, 1865. The following are campaigns that involved the 32nd during Allen's tenure:
Pocatalico, South Carolina - January 15, 1865
River's bridge, Salkahatchie Ricer, South Carolina - February 3, 1865
Orangeburg, South Carolina - February 11 - 12, 1865
Evacuation of Charleston, South Carolina - February 18, 1865
Battle of Averysborough, North Carolina - March 16, 1865
Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina - March 19 - 21, 1865
Surrender at Bennett's House, Durham, North Carolina - April 26, 1865

Allen was discharged at Pocatalico SC. He returned home a few days after
the war ended.
The "List of Widows of Ex-Confederate Soldiers Living in this, Echols County, January 1, 1918" as stated in the Chinkypin Vol., #3 lists Allen as serving with Co. H, 35th Ga. Vols. of Lake Park, Ga. This appears to be incorrect.
Mr. Carter picked up the pieces of his life after the surrender and can be found back in Echols. The 1870 Census for Echols County, GA lists Allen as:
CARTER, Allen 23-M-W/GA Farmer 300/280.
Sarah 19-F-W/GA Keeping House

The 1880 census shows the Carter family growing with children. Allen Carter
is now age 32. The family was enumerated in District #1211 (Kinseys) Echols County, GA. The census showed wife Sarah E. age 27 born in GA, son Hansford, age 10, born in GA, son George, age 8, born in GA, daughter Laura, age 6 born in GA, daughter Elizabeth, age 4 born in GA, son Wiley, age 2 born in GA, and son Alfred, age 1 born in GA.

The Chinkpin Vol 3 lists Allen's death as 11/15/92. Headstone reads Nov. 5,
1892. He is buried in the Carter Family Cemetery in western Echols county along with wife Sarah (d. March 12, 1929) in a rather unusual layout as he is buried head-to-head with wife Sarah.

On Saturday, November 20, 1999, Allen was one of four Confederate soldiers
honored in a ceremony at the Carter Family Cemetery. At that time, a special marker was placed at his gravesite recognizing his service.

My grandfather, Caulie Hendricks, was born June 29, 1890. Some references say in Lowndes Co, Georgia, others in Howell, which is in Echols County. His father's name was William Henry Clay (WHC)Hendrick. WHC Hendrick filed an application for a pension as a Confederate Veteran from the State of Florida in 1907 and an increase in pension in 1909. This notarized document, signed by him, gives some information about his early life and especially his military service. He was born in Nash County, North Carolina on October 13, 1843. I am so far unable to find him in the 1850 census, but in the 1860 census, I have found a 15 year old "Henry C. Hendricks" in Echols County, GA which I believe is him. He is living in the household of Mary E. McMullen.
There are later documents which seem to intertwine the Hendrick's and McMullen's. I have also found him in Echols County in 1870 and 1880, so I believe that the earlier reference is him. WHC's father was Nathan Hendricks (c1815-1882) who was sheriff in Echols County for two terms (see separate profile). It is unknown who his mother was. According to the pension application, WHC Hendrick joined the Confederate Army in Savannah, GA on July 11 or 13, 1862. In his words: We were first a company of heavy artilery (sic) then was put in the Sixth Regiment later into the Fifth Regiment owing to the thining out of our men. Then we had reserve troops placed with us but retained our same officers, company and Regiment (?word) we were spoken of a reserves but were Confederate Troops and in Confederate service all the time and were never state troops.
He was initially in "Capt. RA Peoples Company" which I believe was also Co. E. His tombstone lists his unit as Co E, 5 Ga Inf, CSA. At the end of the war, he was in Co H., 5th Ga Reserves, his Captain was CW Haines and his Regiment Commander was Colonel William R Symons. Other information in the application states that he was "wounded in ankle but not disabled at Battle of Lynchburg, VA in 1863", "was captured in January or February in 1865 in South Carolina but made escape in about 5 hours". He was with Gen'l Joseph E. Johnston's Army at the end of the war and was paroled and honorably discharged at Goldsboro, NC on April 26, 1865.
The next record of WHC Hendrick is the census of 1870 in Echols Co, GA. He married Levicia Ann Copeland, known as Vicey (with various spellings) in about 1866. She was born in what was later Echols County, Georgia on either October 27, 1841 (death certificate) or August 27, 1842 (tombstone). Census records put her born in 1844. Her father was named Lott Copeland and was from South Carolina. In the 1850 census, he is a 65 year old farmer from North Carolina with his 46 year old wife Susan (nee Guess). In the 1860 census, Lott is a "78" year old farmer from South Carolina living with his daughter, Christina (sp?), aged 46. She is 5 in 1850 and her siblings were Narcissa, 20, Erbin(sic) (or Irwin?), 15, Daniel, 10, Edward, 9, and David, 7. In the 1860 census, David and Edward are 10 years older and there are also 2 boys named Henry and Louis, last name Valentine, aged 14 and 15 respectively. The Valentines, Copelands and Hendricks were all very closely connected. I have been unable to find any early land, deed, marriage or other records on WHC Hendricks in Echols County in the late 1800's, probably because of the destruction of the courthouse. There is a tax record in the
archives from the 1860's (listing "Henry Hendrix"). In 1885, WHC bought land in Lowndes County. The land is described as "Lot 428" in the 11th District of "originally Irwin, now Lowndes County" containing 490 acres "except the sawmill timber on the west side of Hunter Bay". This land was sold in 1891 and the family moved to Wellborn, Suwanee County, Florida.
WHC and Vicy Hendrick had at least 10 children, all born in Georgia: 1. Savillah, born about 1868. First husband was Ansel Shaw. Nothing more known. May have married a Summery second.
2. Rachel Emma, born July, 1869 or 70. In 1920, she is in the census as "Emma Hunt", 50 y/o, with a 10 year old son, Preston Hunt. WHC is living with them in Wellborn. 3. John L., born about 1871. He married Coreen Parnell or Layton, and had one daughter, Annie Maude (b. 12/6/1898 or 99, d. 4/16/1981). Annie Maude married Willie Mershon and had one daughter, Helen who married Manon Durrance and still lives in Live Oak, Fl. She provided some of this information. John Hendrick and Coreen Hendricks are buried at Mt. Zion cemetery on Lake Jeffery Rd, west of Lake City. 4. Levan A., born about 1873. Nothing more known. 5. Willie Cuevallia, born 1876 or 77. His first wife, Vallie McMullen died in 1918. On June 11, 1919 he remarried Viola Ellis in Suwanee Co. 6. Sally Aclin born Sept. 9, 1879. She married WC Rivers, who was murdered. They had a son, Roy, a daughter, Katie and also twins who died at birth, the twin girl was named Vicy Marie. She may have lived in Ocala at some point. She died June 4, 1918 and is buried at Mt. Beulah Baptist Church in Wellborn.
7. Riley Arthur, born November, 1881. In 1920, he is living in Bradford County, married to Nora Belle Brannon and has two children, Willie, 11 y/o and Vivian, 9 y/o. Paul M. Hendricks 8. George Nathan, born November 1984. He married to Bertie Williams in Lafayette County, FL. 9 and 10. Here is where it gets a little complicated. Family history and almost every record I have lists Haulie and Caulie (my grandfather and his twin brother) as the last children of WHC and Levicia Hendrick, born June 29, 1890. However, the 1900 census lists them as grandsons. This could be an assumption by the census taker (there are lots and lots of errors in the census) based on Vicey's somewhat advanced age for childbearing (she would have to have been anywhere from 45 to 48, depending on her true birth date). But, it might also be true.
Haulie married to Nellie Stansel. They had three children, Leonard, Claude and Elbert. Leonard L. Hendricks, b. 1/26/1911, d. 9/15/1914 is buried at Mt. Beulah next to Haulie and Nellie. Haulie died Dec. 20, 1962. His death certificate lists William and Vicy as his parents (as does Caulie's). Both of their social security applications also list William and Vicy Hendricks as parents.
In 1910, Caulie is a 19 y/o living with WHC and Levicia, but listed as a boarder! There is also a 7 y/o grandson named Russell SUMMERY living with them. (Summery is the name on the census, but another descendant has documents stating that his name was SUMLER.) So, could Haulie and Caulie have really been grandsons of WHC and Vicey? Well, the only children old enough would be Savillah, Rachel Emma, John L., and Levan. We know from Helen Durrance that John L. had only one child, Annie Maude. This leaves Levan (who would have to have been around 16 or 17 when they were born) and the two girls. They could have been illegitimate, I guess and kept the family name. It is still unclear where the boy Summery comes in. I presume that he is either Savillah's or Rachel's boy (though Rachel was married to a Hunt) or Sallie's by a marriage prior to hers to WC Rivers. I believe that Russell Summery was Savillah's boy by a second marriage. All mysteries to pursue and hopefully solve. Part of what makes this so interesting.
Levicia Ann Hendrick died December 20 or 21, 1915 and is buried at Mt. Beulah Baptist Church in Wellborn.
Of WHC's later years, there are three separate dates covered in the pension application. The first application is July 6, 1907. He states that he is "over the age of sixy four year of age and am by reason of age incapable of earning a living by manual labor". He was awarded a pension of $100 per year.
He applied for an increase on July 15, 1909 when he stated "I have catarrh of the head which affects my eyes and am very hard of hearing and suffer from pain and kidney trouble". He was increased to $120 per year. At that time he records that his personal property amounted to $7.50 in "cattle, horses and other live stock" and $50 in personal property. There is also a note from July 6, 1915 signed by two doctors stating that he is "unable to make a living on account of age and infirmity". There is no recorded action from this note. He died in 1922 in Union County, Florida, probably while staying with his son, Riley.
Caulie married Mary Alberta Ward on August 27, 1919. He had served in the US Army in France during WW I and worked for Jacksonville Motor Co., first as a trolley driver, then as a bus driver. He retired in 1955 and died on June 28, 1972. They had 5 children. Virginia Ward Hendricks was born about 1920 and died at about 18 months and is buried at Sasser's Landing Cemetery in Jennings, FL. Their next two children were twins, Wanda Maude and Warren Maxwell, born in 1923. On July 30, 1926, they had twins again, Frankie Jack Hendricks, my father and Farrell Jean who died at about 6 weeks.

Nathan HENDRICKS was an early resident of Echols County. His early life is a mystery and mostly inferred. He was born c1815 in NC according to census records. His son, William Henry Clay (WHC) HENDRICKS stated in his CSA pension application that he (WHC) was born in Nash County, NC. There was a Hendricks family in Nash County, descended from Francis HENDRICKSON, a very early settler in NC. There were three brothers, Willie, Isaac and Tignal HENDRICKS in Nash at that time. Willie died young and it is felt that Nathan was the son of probably Tignal HENDRICKS (or possibly Isaac). Tignal's
wife was Elizabeth ETHERIDGE. No records of his children have been found, but an early biography of Wilson HENDRICKS of Pulaski County, GA states that Tignal was Wilson's father. Wilson was said to have moved to Twiggs County, GA as a young man. There is a Nathan HENDRICKS in the 1840 Twiggs County census and Nathan's son, John W. HENDRICKS is listed as being "of Twiggs County" in his family Bible. Wilson moved to Pulaski County, GA and in 1853, Nathan HENDRICKS sold land to Wilson HENDRICKS in Pulaski County. Wilson sold it back to Nathan in 1857. A relationship to Wilson (probably brothers, or possibly cousins) is inferred from these facts (there was also a Berry HENDRICKS who may have been a brother).
There is a Nathan HENDRICKS in the 1840 Twiggs County census. It is hard to reconcile this being our Nathan with the record of his son, WHC being born in Nash County in 1843, however it fits with most of what is known. Did he go back to NC to remarry? Nathan was probably married at least 4 times. The death certificate for his daughter, Mary Jane HENDRICKS, born 1864 lists her mother as "Mary CHITTY". In the 1870 census (the earliest one in which Nathan "HENDRIX" is definitively found), he was married to Nancy HUGHES (confirmed by death certificate of his son, Nathan T. HENDRICKS, Jr., born 1868). In
1873, he married Rebecca GUTHRIE according to Lowndes County records. So what happened to earlier wives or to Nathan for that matter? We can only infer. In the 1850 census, Nathan's children are living with various other families.
Mary Samantha, Frances Dianthony and Elizabeth were all living with David and Nancy FENN (I don't know who these people were, but in 1870 Nathan sold land in Echols County to Nancy FENN of Lowndes County). Also in Wilkinson County in 1850, John HENDRICKS was living with William and Laney DAVIS (both natives of NC). In 1853 and 1857, Nathan had the land transactions listed above in Pulaski County. In 1860, Nathan's son "Henry C. HENDRICKS" is living with Mary E. MCMULLEN (widow of John MCMULLEN who had just passed away). There are later connections between HENDRICKS and MCMULLEN's. Also in 1860, dtr. Elizabeth HENDRICKS was living with William and Elizabeth FOLSOM of Brooks County. Mary and Frances (twins) were still living with the FENN's in
1860. Nathan has not been definitively found in the 1850 or 1860 census. Presumably his first wife died and his children were living with relatives are friends.
There are land transactions by Nathan in the 1860's when he is apparently living in Echols County. There are military records for "N. Hendrix" who enlisted in 1863 at Statenville, Echols County, GA in the CSA (Staten's Co, 11 GA Cavalry, State Guards). This is probably Nathan enlisting in the homeguard. He is first found in the census in Echols in 1870 (married to Nancy) and is also there in 1880 (married to Rebecca). According to Judge Huxford, Nathan was sheriff of Echols County from 1867-1868 and from 1878-1881.
Nathan HENDRICKS' children included:
1. Elizabeth HENDRICKS, b. c1838. Nothing more known.
2. John W. HENDRICKS, b. 4/25/1841, d. 10/4/1913 in Cook County, GA. He married Elizabeth FENDER in Echols County on 11/11/1866.
3. William Henry Clay HENDRICKS, b. 10/13/1843 in Nash County, NC, died 6/3/1922 in Union County, Florida. Married Levicia Ann COPELAND in Echols County c1866.
4. Frances Dianthony HENDRICKS, b. c1848. Married Riley FENDER.
5. Mary Samantha HENDRICKS, b. c1848. Married James F. MCBRIDE. Lived in Emanual County, GA.
(mother of above children unknown)
6. Mary Jane HENDRICKS, b. 9/12/1864 in Echols County, d. 6/17/1940 in Williamsburg County, SC. Married David Barineau YOUNG. Mother was Mary CHITTY according to death certificate.
7. Martha Jane HENDRICKS, b. 6/24/1866 in Echols County, d. 12/10/1836 in Madison County, Florida. Married Edward Phillip COPELAND. (mother probably Nancy HUGHES or maybe Mary CHITTY)
8. Nathan T. HENDRICKS, Jr., b. 3/20/1868 in Echols County, d. 6/26/1939 in Echols County. His mother was Nancy HUGHES He married 1) Laura RICKERSON, 2) Marzilla ROLLISON, 3) Edith Adeline YOUNG on 6/24/1888 in Echols County, Georgia.
Sadly, on January 2, 1882 WHC HENDRICKS petitioned the Echols County court to "declare his father, Nathan HENDRICKS to be mentally incompetent". Nathan died on April 1, 1882 and is buried in a currently unmarked grave at Wayfare Cemetery in Echols County. Some further court records help to define the relationships of Nathan's children. In September, 1882 Mary Jane and Martha Jane HENDRICKS, "minor children of Nathan HENDRICKS, deceased" petitioned the court to appoint a guardian over them. The court chose Henry VALENTINE, described as a "friend and relative". On October 1, 1883, Nathan T. HENDRICKS, "minor child of Nathan HENDRICKS" asked the court to appoint his brother, WHC HENDRICKS as his guardian. Also in 1883, "Mary J. YOUNG, Martha J. COPELAND, N.T. HENDRICKS, John W. HENDRICKS, "Samanthy" MCBRIDE, and Dianthony FENDER" requested an accounting of the estate of Nathan Hendricks from Henry PARRISH, administrator.

PIONEER BIOGRAPHIES

Mathis Profileby Janine Rickner

[MATHIS, Edmond; b. 1776 in Sampson
Co, NC; d. 1860 in Clinch Co, GA; buried at Prospect Church (grave unmarked); 4 children:
Bunyan, John, Tyre, & Nancy.]
Edmond was the co-founder of the Wayfare Church (his name is mentioned on the historical marker
along with his wife and his brother John) and his wife Unity Register/Mathis (b. 1778 in Sampson
Co, NC; d/of John Register; d. 1853 in Ware Co, GA ~now Echols~) is buried there (unmarked
grave). It is only one of many churches that he founded in the surrounding county area. Edmond is a
3rd great uncle of mine. He and his two brothers, John & James, came to the area in about 1802 from
Sampson Co, NC. Judge Folks Huxford wrote about the three of them in his "Pioneers of Wiregrass
Georgia" books, volume 1. James Mathis is actually my direct ancestor.
I'm originally from south Florida but had the pleasure of visiting your area (Echols Co., GA) this past April with my
mom and sister. We visited the Huxford Library in Homerville and spent a whole day just cemetery
hoppin'! It's really very beautiful country there. The pine trees are enormous!